Sunday, December 28, 2008

I finally made my way to Sephora yesterday while on my way to get meds for my skin. Le sighs, I am having skin issues right now, I don't look and feel my best at this moment in time.

Well it was quite a small shop, unlike the Sephoras in other countries. It didn't carry many new items except for Bare Minerals, Pop Beauty, Too Faced, Bliss and Becca. I heard many people complaining and I am one too. I really want Sephora in Singapore to be sucessful but the brands they are bringing is disappointing to say the least. Number one, I was expecting Nars, Urban Decay and Laura Mercier. I was also hoping that the prices wouldn't be so exhorbitant. I've been buying Pop beauty and Too Faced stuff from Beautycrunch, they are alot cheaper online. If I ever wanted to get Benefit I would order online too, Benefit in Singapore is way too overpriced. If I wanted Clinique or Dior I would go to Tangs, at least over there I would get a rebate so my items would be cheaper. Honestly I don't see the sense in putting stuff that any other departmental store already has. What is the point?The only thing I wanted was the Too Faced Shadow Insurance which was out of stock. (What is new?) And to check out Becca. I had great experiences with Becca and wanted to try out more of their stuff. I heard from MUA (Makeupalley) that their creme blushers were really nice so I tested them out. They were really creamy and moist. Becca itself is really expensive. I don't know why. Is it because it is Australian? I paid $49 for my Amaryllis Creme Blush. It is $30 US on the website. I fell in love with the Eye Tint the minute I swatched it on my arms. Gilt was a really glossy bronze colour. I paid $39 and on the website it was $24. I also checked out the extentsive Sephora range. Nothing caught my eye except for the nail varnishes. I generally get my nails done professionally, not because I'm a snob because I make a huge mess out of my nails. The colours looked fun and they were $8 a bottle, why not. Anyways after tryig to paint my toe nails with them I decided I'm not loving them. The colours just look odd on my feet.

Well that concludes my trip. I must say that the SA there are attentive and try their best to give good service. But they aren't makeup addicts like moi so have problems answering other than the basic questions. They probably need more time to gain product knowledge. I will probably go back for more Becca Creme Blushes but that's about all. There isn't anything else there that would hold my interest. I seriously hope the guys at Sephora look into how they are going to bring in brands that will attract the crowds. Sephora rating: 2 lipsticks

Saturday, November 29, 2008

This bronzer was part of my Urban Decay haul. I've been using this baby for the whole week and I really love this! Look how cute it is, being packaged like a cupcake. I love cupcakes.

It looks really like a dark orange in the pan and probably will not be very suitable for very fair ladies. But it is suitable for my NC30 skintone. This is very pigmented so when I tried using my MAC 129 fluffy brush, I found that it picked up too much product even after tapping away the extra. Upon application, it looked too dark and I had to use another brush to blend it further. The next time, I tried my trusty MAC 187. It made all the difference. I tapped off the extra and gently swept the brush in a figure 3 over the sides of my face. Forehead, hollows of cheek and the side of my chin. Then a little more on the hollows of my cheek. I added my favourite peach/apricot blush on the apples of my cheeks and blended both to make sure that there isn't a distinct difference between the two colours.Viola! Healthy and natural glow and I looked like I had sharper and more pronounced cheekbones. Because this is matt, my pores did not look obvious. It did not turn into a shiny greasy mess even after 4 hours. I didn't really need to touch up that area. You can apply this with a damp sponge for a stronger look but I don't think I will want to attempt that. The colour probably will look too strong.

Taken from the website:

Our bronzer’s name is a bit of a triple-entendre. First of all, it gives you a nice baked, toasty glow without the threat of skin damage. Second, it’s literally baked in an Italian oven on a tiny terra cotta disc for 24 hours, then hand-finished by a factory full of motherly Italian women. The result is an ultra-smooth, sheer-finish bronzer that can be used wet or dry and always goes on streak-free. And third, well, if you don’t get the joke, we’re just not going to tell you.Apply dry with a fat brush for a light dusting of summer sun, or use it wet with a sponge for a deeper St. Tropez shade. Because the formula is cooked, not pressed, the powder returns to a micro-fine feel after being wet - without glazing!

Tips: Use Baked Bronzer on your face or body. Try using a small wet brush to deliver rich, concentrated color to eyes and lips, too.

There is quite a lot of product in this compact, 10g of it. At a very nice price of $24 USD. It comes in three colours, the other two being Baked (bronze with golden shimmer) and Gilded (bronze shimmer with gold veining).

Friday, November 28, 2008

It is the school holidays! Even though I was still in school most of this week to do work, I took Tuesday off to go to IKEA to look for ideas to organise my expanding makeup collection. It was getting to the point where I did not even have any space on my chest of drawers to work on. I spied some really cool looking makeup organiser trays from the bathroom section. Unfortunately in order to get them, I will have to assemble a cabinet which worked up to a total of $200 and more.

Definitely not worth it. At the work section I saw a 5 drawer metal cabinet with deep drawers. It has castors which means I can move my stuff with relative ease. It costs $69. A better and cheaper solution for me. Anyway I must tell you the totally dumb thing I did. I don't know about you but I everytime I go to IKEA, I go crazy. I end up buying all sorts of stuff for my home. Needlessly to say, I bought 2 sets of shoe boxes with clear covers. Very nifty and a wonderful solution for my shoes. Two huge plastic boxes with castors for my darling boy to keep his toys. A hang on frog shelf thingy and magic markers as well. Well I was by myself, when I went to collect my metal cabinet set, I realised that I was in deep trouble. It was super heavy. No way I could carry everything by myself. I couldn't use a cab because there isn't anyone at home to help me carry them up. There wasn't anyone to help me at all!!! I paid $50 for home delivery.

My total purchase cost me $140. I'm so silly! Anyway to assembly this cabinet, you need male muscles. You actually need to bend the metal into drawers and there is a portion where you need brute strength to shove certain parts into others. So ladies if you are thinking of getting this be forewarned. By the way it comes in red and silver.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Mom called to say I have a package waiting for me at her house. I rushed over as fast as I could.Even DS was excited for me and wanted to see what was inside. Are you ready?

Eyeshadows in Purple Haze and Cult

Swatches, Purple Haze on top and Cult below.

Primer Potion and Full Sized 24/7 Eyeliner in Rockstar (Dark Purple)

That officially ends my cosmetic buying for this year. I promise I'm not going to buy anymore stuff till next year. Honestly!I cannot wait to try out the eyeliners. I really hope they live up to my expectations.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

I had my staff dinner to attend last night, to top it off my galpal and I were planning to head to Attica to let loose. I went down to Orchard to have a haircut and since I had a little time to waste I picked up some new makeup. I bought MAC Liquidlast in Point Black, Shiseido's The Mascara Base and Dior's Sparkle Shine Lip Gloss.As I was chatting with said galpal, I found out that she went out and did some makeup shopping too. So I guess I'm not the only one that needs an excuse like a fancy event to get more unneccessary makeup. I tend to notice that with events like this, the spending becomes more reckless. For example, it took me a good month to finally decide that I do want the Bobbi Brown and Shu Uemura palette. I walked past my counters quite a few times to look and see. I visted Nordstrom as well. But when faced with a situation like a event a few hours away I would happily plonk my money at the counter if it promises to make me glamorous.I wanted to do a dark smokey look and wanted some sparkling pink nude gloss to go with it. I headed to Dior because I saw some of swatches online, they really look very nice. I picked out two colours, the SA was looking for them when I chanced upon this darling gloss.It is called the Dior Sparkle Shine lipgloss. It is a clear lip gloss with multi-coloured glitter particles. When I swatched it on my hands, it was love at first sight! It helps that the lights above reflected the glitter particles so clearly. I had to have it! So I took this home instead and told the SA I didn't want to other glosses I picked.I used it over my lipstick MAC 4N. First of because the glitter particles and slightly larger it feels slightly gritty on the lips. But how it amps up your lips. After testing out applying this lipgloss over lipstick and ohter lip glosses I realise that it feel gritty on lip sticks but not over lip glosses. You may not want to layer this over matt lipsticks because the glitter doesn't show up very well. It has a heavenly signtaure Dior lipstick scent whick was very pleasant and not too overpowering. It was also very easy to reapply after. I paid $37 for it. I prefer MAC Dazzleglasses over this.

Friday, November 7, 2008

I'm totally into neutral looks lately. I really like my old 2006 Bobbi Brown Lip and Eye palette. The colours go so well together to give me a professional look. BB eyeshadows are very pigments and soft. The lip colours look bright but still manage to look subtle on me. Since my palette is two years old, I thought it would be high time I got something new to replace it.

I was drawn to the new palette by the Metallic eyeshadows. It also helped that there were 4 Creamy Lip Colours. I had been tempted to buy a tube but this palette gives me 4 colours to experiment with.

The eyshadows are hidden in a mini drawer which you can pull out. I really love the brushes that comes along with it. BB brushes are always of great quality, even those that come in palettes. This time round, the lip brush comes with a black cap and safely keeps the palette from being smudged by lipstick. I absolutely hate it when I pay good money only to find that the brushes and applicators aren't usable.

Galaxy has the most pigmentation out of the four eye shadows. It is a silvery grey. Unfortunately all of them are very sheer. So expect them to be a sheer wash of colour. Champagne Quartz and Gold Dust work better as highlighters. Golden Bronze works better for me on my lids closer to my lashes. Since these are shimmery eyeshadows, they look great on the lids but I feel that you should pair it with either a matt and satin textured eyeshadow on top. I just wish there was a matt colour in there to complete the look. I find that I'm not able to make use of all colours to do a complete eye, instead I have to rely on my trusty MAC Shroom or Bobbi Brown Brown's Mink for the lid. I'm quite disappointed with the eyeshadows.

Although the lipcolours aren't pigmented unlike the normal BB lip colours, I felt that they help create a softer look. Ruby gave my lips a "just ate a berry" look without being too harsh. Berry Muave gave my lips a rosey tint. I am not able to get Pink Sequin to show up on my lips. Even though they claim that it is long wearing, I don't think it is. I don't mind because reapplying it is half the joy. I did not experience flakey or chapped lips. My lips had a glossy soft shine too it. I really love the textures of the creamy lip colours.

Well I don't really love the eye shadows but I love the lip colours. So I don't feel that this is a value for money palette.

I swear I was just going to peep at it. I even walked away and told the SA I would think about it. Seriously! But... I was thinking about it the whole time I was grocery shopping, I went back rather shamefaced to the same SA and succumbed. I had a really hard time chosing which palette to take home. Secret Luscious Rose is really gorgeous too. Adorned Marguerite has many sweet colours but looked rather chalky. Honestly, I couldn't justify laying $230 for two palettes so I bought one for now. This thing cost me $115. Gosh it is expensive.

Luscious Rose has the nicest cover for sure. Winter Sakura was the palette that was sold out at Nordstrom, Sephora and Shu Uemura website. I figured if I really wanted Luscious Rose I could still get them there plus it would be cheaper. It is going for $65 US.

This tiny palette comes with a duo sided brush, one side being a sponge applicator and another a brush for applying eye liner. I tried this palette out for the last two days. Yesterday I used the Copper Bronze and Khaki Green duo. Today I tried the Warm Gold and Brown duo. The shadows are very pigmented and soft. They lasted quite well considering I had them on from 7 a.m. in the morning till 6.30 p.m. There was some fading in the evening. This happens to all my makeup, by the end of the day you can hardly tell I have eye makeup on. The colours are very suitable for my warm skin tone. The black creamy liner (the one on the far right) is not a strong black that I hoped it would be. It is sheer. You need to go over a few times before if becomes a black black. Morever, it isn't long wearing and smudges like crazy on me. I think I'll stick to my Clinique liner. Overall, I'm very pleased with this buy. The colours pair up well and are in my opinion work safe colours. Can't wait to try the teal and dark blue colours though.